UK solar capacity grows 1GW year on year
ByKit Million Ross
November 29, 2024
The latest solar energy statistics from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have revealed that the UK now has over 17GW of installed solar capacity.
As of the end of October 2024, the UK has a total of 17.2GW of solar generation capacity, a 1GW or 6.3% increase since October 2023. Across October 2024, 76MW of capacity was added across 20,102 new solar installations. Of these, 73% were on residential properties, representing 58MW of the installed capacity added. This broadly reflects the trend of UK solar, where the bulk of solar installations are domestic. However, domestic installations only make up around 30% of the UK’s total capacity, with approximately 5.2GW of solar generation coming from home rooftops.
As of the end of September 2023 (Q3 2024), at least 45% of UK solar capacity, totalling 7.71GW, came from ground-mounted or standalone solar installations, including two operational solar PV power plants accredited under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism. However, DESNZ estimates that approximately half of the UK’s unaccredited capacity comes from ground-mounted installations, meaning that roughly 55% of the UK’s total solar capacity comes from ground-mounted projects.
Across 2023, 196,760 new solar installations came online – the second highest in any recorded year, only beaten by 2011’s record of 208,586 installations. So far this year, 155,256 new installations have taken place, meaning that 41,504 installations will need to be completed in November and December of this year for 2024 to beat last year’s total – an unlikely but not impossible scenario.